THIRTEEN DEAD

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18764, 22 July 1935, Page 7

THIRTEEN DEAD

PLANE CRASH IN STORM DUTCH AIR LINER’S FATE PLUNGE INTO PINE FOREST TWO BRITONS VICTIMS (Elcc. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) MILAN, July 20. The Royal Dutch air liner PIIAKG, of tho “flying hotel” type, en route from Milan to Frankfort, crashed near San Bernardino, in Switzerland, during a severe storm.

The 13 occupants killed included two Britisli and the others Dutch. The cause of the disaster is unknown. The British dead are: Commander Arthur Watts, and Louis Mariano Nesbitt, mining engineer and author of romantic books on Abyssinia. The latter adventurously travelled in districts from which whites had formerly not returned alive. Mr Watts was hastening from Italy to rejoin his wife, who recently gave birth to u second son.

An airline company official states that Pilot Varulerveist, when crossing the frontier of Switzerland, encountered a fog. He asked for a bearing from Milan 15 minutes before the crash, and then wound in the aerial owing to a thunderstorm. He canic out of the clouds and found himself too near the ground, and therefore attempted to climb it)) through tlui clouds, but collided with a mountainside.

Villagers at San Bernardino state that tho plane crashed into a pine forest clothing a deep ravine with such violence that the debris was filing up. The propeller was later found embedded in a tree 50yds. distance. Rescuers rushed to the spot and found all dead but Mademoiselle Ilermanides, the first of the four stewardesses recently engaged, who was making her lirsl trip from Holland. She was hastily extricated, but died in a few -minutes.

WEEK’S THIRD DISASTER MILAN SERVICE -SUSPENDED THE HAGUE, July 20. The public are deeply shocked at the third disaster in a week after a long period almost without, tragedy. The air line announces the suspension of the Milan service until the cause of the disaster is established and it will be operated by Lufthansa.